Pilot Study of Associations Among Functional Connectivity and Neurocognition in Survivors of Pediatric Brain Tumor and Healthy Peers

Abstract

This pilot study examined the associations among functional connectivity in the salience, central executive, and default mode networks, and neurocognition in pediatric brain tumor survivors and healthy children. Thirteen pediatric brain tumor survivors (9 boys, M = 12.76 years) and 10 healthy children (6 boys, M = 12.70 years) completed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and assessment of processing speed and executive function. Pediatric brain tumor survivors performed more poorly than healthy children on measures of processing speed, divided attention, and working memory; parent ratings of day-to-day executive function did not differ significantly by group, though both pediatric brain tumor survivors who underwent only surgical resection and healthy children were rated by parents as having difficulties approaching a standard deviation above the normative mean. Connectivity was lower in the salience network and greater in the default mode network in pediatric brain tumor survivors. Cross-method correlations showed that increased salience network and default mode network connectivity were associated with better task performance and parent-rated executive skills and higher central executive network connectivity with poorer parent-rated executive skills. This perhaps reflects an adaptive pattern of hyperconnectivity in pediatric brain tumor survivors.